NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 college hockey season tonight when the No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-8-1) host the Lake Superior State Lakers (11-10-1) at the Compton Family Ice Arena with coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can also catch the game online at NBC Sports Live Extra.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Jeff Jackson knows Lake Superior State quite well. Not only were the Irish and Lakers conference opponents in the CCHA, but Jackson coached the Lakers from 1990-1996 leading them to two national championships in 1992 and 1994.

Since then, the Lakers have faded from the national picture while the Irish have been a perennial threat to win it all since Jackson took over in 2005. This season, the Lakers are holding steady led by freshman forward Alex Globke whose eight goals and 21 points leads the team in both categories. Senior forward Colin Campbell and junior defenseman Kevin Czuczman are also guys to watch.

If Czuczman’s name seems familiar, it’s because you may have first heard about him in Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts this week (point No. 24) as a potential guy NHL teams are looking at. His seven goals and 15 points put him second on the team in each category but it’s his added toughness that’s getting teams to notice him as he leads the team with 48 penalty minutes.

The Lakers head into this weekend’s set against the Irish losers of six of their past eight games and were swept at home by Bemidji State last weekend.

The Fighting Irish, on the other hand, disposed of Alabama-Huntsville quietly last weekend by scores of 7-1 and 5-0. It was a big weekend for senior Bryan Rust as he had four goals and two assists in the two games. Senior T.J. Tynan also came up big with a goal and five assists.

Piling up points against college hockey’s worst team is one thing, but they’ll have to buckle down to deal with the Lakers. Yes, they’re struggling themselves of late but with the conference schedules about to start up again for the second half of the season, everyone wants to be ready for the stretch run.